Oak Creek Historical Society

​Oak Creek was originally part of Potawatomi land and became United States territory in the 1830’s as a result of a treaty with the Indian tribe. In 1840, the US government offered the territory for sale. Several sections along Rawson Avenue were purchased by land speculator Martin Otis Walker.

 

The Joseph Schumacher family left Prussia departing the port of Amsterdam in early 1845 on the ship Fanny and arrived in Castle Garden,  New York on June 25, 1845. Castle Garden was the immigration port prior to Ellis Island. Accompanying the 38 year old Joseph was his wife Anna Maria, 35; son Anton, 11; daughter Elisabeth, 9; daughter Catherina, 7; son Wilhelm (William), 5; and son Heinrich (Henry), 11 months.  The family traveled west to Oak Creek Township in Wisconsin Territory and purchased 25 acres of land on Rawson Avenue from Martin Otis Walker.  The land changed hands from Joseph to his son Henry and was later passed on to Henry’s son Alfred.

 

The Schumacher family continued farming until the 1950’s. The farmhouse was razed in 2012.  Henry Schumacher served in the Civil War as part of the Wisconsin 35th Regiment, Company B as Private, mustering in December 3, 1863 rising to the rank of Corporal before he mustered out after the war on March 15, 1866. Henry saw action at Simmsport, Louisiana and the Siege of Spanish Fort near Mobile, Alabama. He was injured on duty while building log defenses known as breastworks.